Freddy peered over the couch to see his parents and his brother, Josh, coming home from school. In a panic, he made a whine that caught the attention of a sullen Josh.
“What was that?” asked Josh, his curiosity piqued by the noise.
Josh was in the 6th grade and was a bit short for his age. He looked as cute as a button, but could throw a bad temper tantrum if he wanted to. This might have explained why Freddy was his parents favorite. Freddy looked away from the door and tried to move further behind the couch as he heard his little brothers footsteps racing towards him. When Josh saw the dog that Freddy became, he let out a huge gasp!
“Oh my gosh! A doggy!”
“Oh no!” Freddy thought to himself as he let out an audible whine.
Josh jumped up and down as his parents looked on in disbelief. When they left the house, Freddy was still human. Now, he had already turned back into a dog. Was it a mistake to leave him alone? Was this going to keep happening again and again? What was causing all of these transformations in the first place? Freddy’s parents began to move towards him as they nervously thought to themselves how they were going to explain the situation to Josh.
“Um” his father mumbled as he thought of an answer. “We found him in the backyard and we haven’t been able to identify an owner.”
“Can we keep him! Can we keep him! Can we keep him!” Josh asked excitedly.
“Um” his mother added. “I don’t know. I mean, we don’t know who the owner is and they might come looking for him.”
Freddy’s mother came to scratch him on the head. Freddy was furious that he was being treated like a common pet, but as soon as his mother began scratching behind his ears, he let out an appreciable moan and began to stomp his paw on the floor.
“What are you doing?” Freddy thought to himself as he sought to snap out of it. “You’re not an animal. Why are you acting like one?” Freddy was getting nervous that his canine instincts were taking over more and more. He feared that he wouldn’t have any humanity left if he didn’t find a cure for this curse soon.
“Well, what if no one comes to claim him?” Josh asked innocently.
“Well” his father replied. “I will put out some feelers in the neighborhood. If no one comes to claim him within a week or two, we’ll keep him.”
“Yay!” Josh yelled as he jumped up and down.
Josh hugged Fido and began to pat him all over his doggy body. Josh felt his dog fur and rubbed his belly. As much as Freddy didn’t want to admit it, he enjoyed all of the attention he was getting and the petting felt really good.
“So what do we name him?” Josh asked.
“Um” his parents replied as they stalled to come up with an answer.
Freddy whined again as he looked on in confusion.
“You’re already giving me a dog name?” Freddy thought to himself with his head cocked slightly. “Great, this day can’t get any worse.”
After a moment of silence, his father said “How about Fido?”
“Fido?” Freddy thought as he whimpered again.
“Yeah, Fido” his mother added. “That’s a really good dog name.”
“Yeah Fido” Josh said as he looked to his new dog. “You’re going to be my best friend now.”
Freddy began to feel even more of a sense of dread at the prospect of becoming his brothers pet. He really hoped that Michael might come by soon to save him from his predicament. He really wanted a cure to this curse found as soon as possible.
“Can we take him for a walk?” Josh asked his father.
Fido barked loudly as he showed a strong resistance to the idea.
“I don’t think it’s such a good idea” his mother replied hesitantly.
“Sure, why not” his father interjected.
“But honey, we don’t know much about this dog. What if someone tries to kidnap him or he runs away?”
“Nonsense, I’m sure it’ll do him some good to get out of the house and go for a walk. What do you say, boy?”
Fido barked loudly as he began to shake his head violently. Not taking no for an answer, Freddy’s father left the room to grab his leash.
“Come on, boy. Let’s get you collared up.”
In a panic, Freddy began to run to the other side of the room. Despite his speed as a dog, he was tackled by his brother as his father attached the leash to the collar.
“Up boy!” his father yelled. “Up you get.”
When Fido wouldn’t get up, his father and brother pulled him up into a standing position with his mother sympathetically looking on.
“Come on boy! Time to go out.”
Reluctantly, Fido followed his father and brother out the door as he was being pulled by his collar.
“I never should have put this stupid thing on!” Freddy thought to himself as he whined aloud. “Then again, if I hadn’t, they probably would have put it on for me.”
As the door slammed shut, his mother looked on with sadness in her face.
“Oh Freddy” she said aloud. “I hope you’re able to end this nightmare soon.”
As they began their walk around the neighborhood, Fido put his head down in shame. Despite the many sensations hitting his super enhanced ears and nose, all Freddy could think about was being relegated to the life of a household pet by his brother and how awful he was being treated by his own father. He couldn’t believe this had happened to him and he wanted it to end immediately.
“So where should we take him?” Josh asked his father as Fido looked up at him.
“I don’t know Josh” his father replied. “Where would you like to go?”